A single amino acid substitution in a protein causes increased neuron production in the frontal lobes of humans compared to Neanderthals—a tiny difference that could have given our species a cognitive edge, researchers say.
Psychedelics are evolutionarily ancient compounds produced by fungi, plants, and microbes. Humans also synthesize psychedelics. Researchers want to know how and why.
In Chapter 1, “The Science of Animal Dreams,” author David M. Peña-Guzmán relays the history of researchers digging into the mental realities of nonhuman brains.